Utility companies (electric utility now, natural gas utility in the future) would like to regulate a water heater's load to avoid peak draws in power by spreading over time the energy required to heat the water. There are several commands that the utilities would like to use. Commands like shed (or reduce) load, add load, relative pricing (static or dynamic), or grid guidance. The invention relates to using these commands to mange water temperature and user satisfaction while at the same time shifting the energy to heat the tank to off-peak hours.